Behind Her Smile
by MiyuRisa
Summary: Humiliated, ashamed, lonely, crushed, weak. Lucy left those feelings behind. She is the Sovereign Queen. She is no longer the fragile princess she used to be. Together with new people by her side, will she be be able to let the past be forgotten? Sorry for the very short and not-so-great summary.
1. The Fragile Princess

Author's Notes: Well, here's the newly edited chapter one. I haven't really got much to say other than read and enjoy.

**Disclaimer****: **I don't own Fairy Tail or any of it's characters.

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FRAGILE PRINCESS:

It was months after the Grand Magic Games. Sabertooth had won and unfortunately, Fairy Tail only managed to gain 3rd place. The competition was difficult. Each member had their fair share of challenges showered with blood sweat and tears; but they all pulled through in the end. Well… all except for Lucy Heartfilia. Battle after battle, she was continually beaten to a bloody pulp, tortured and humiliated in front of thousands of people. Oh, how she felt ashamed! To be the laughingstock of all of Fiore, to be the one reason that Fairy Tail had not achieved victory over the tournament, she felt so unworthy to even show her face in the guild. But she hid it well. Years of the life of an heiress had taught the blonde to hide her sorrows, her sufferings, behind a smile.

No one had ever actually told Lucy outright that she was the reason they lost; though everyone, even Lucy herself, felt it in their hearts that she was to blame. They wondered how she was even chosen to participate despite being as weak as she was. Clearly there were more competent mages they could have picked instead. They all thought she was a worthless excuse of a celestial mage. Only a handful hadn't thought of her as such a disgrace; namely Wendy Charles, Levy, Mirajane and Master Makarov. Wendy was much too kind to think that of someone she saw as a sister. Charles, though cold and calculative, didn't think she deserved such treatment. I mean, the poor girl had already been beat up and humiliated. She didn't need to feel any more pain, did she? As for Levy, why on EARTHLAND would she think so harshly of her best friend? Mirajane's heart was far too gentle and Makarov wouldn't dream of thinking of his "child" as such.

But eventually, the rest of the guild started treating her like a fragile princess, like she could break at any moment. They avoided her like a plague, isolated her. Some even started gossiping about her behind her back. Everywhere she went, she could feel their stares, their heated gazes and glares, as she passed by. At first, Lucy tried to ignore it. God knows how she endured the loneliness. She went on as if everything was fine, as if she didn't have a clue about the bitter aura that enveloped the people around her whenever she neared. Life felt hollow but she kept telling herself that her guildmates wouldn't hate her forever. She kept trying to convince herself that their anger would pass and they would forgive her for not being strong enough. She was doing a pretty good job of lying to herself. After all, she believed it for more than half a year. But then it happened. Team Natsu had kicked her off the team and replaced her with Lisanna Strauss! That was the last straw! She couldn't take it anymore! No! She was NOT going to take this lying down! Lucy was fed up with being ignored! She was fed up with people talking about her behind her back! And most of all, she was fed up with being weak! She was fed being that fragile princess, that damsel in distress that always had to wait for someone to come to her rescue. It was time she got to stand on her own feet and be strong enough to come to her own rescue. It was time she fought to become strong on her own.

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**Mirajane's P.o.V.**

A sigh escaped my lips. It's been another day of partying in the guild and once again, I am left to clean up after everyone's created the mess. It was half passed 10 o'clock and I was almost done. I just had to finish cleaning up the bar and I'll finally be able to go home after a long day of serving the guild and a long night of cleaning. Sometimes I wonder if the others ever appreciate my efforts. As I finished putting back the last mug back into its place, I spotted Lucy heading to the 2nd floor.

"Where are heading off to, Lucy?" I asked her.

"Just going to see Master." She replied.

I thought nothing of it at the time and headed home. But before I left, I yelled "See you tomorrow Lucy!" and I went home without even waiting for a response. Little did I know that I wasn't going to see my friend tomorrow at the bar, waiting to order her favorite strawberry milkshake as I served our other guildmates.

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**Makarov's P.o.V.**

I sat in my chair overlooking the various paperwork on my desk. "Ugh… bills, fines, damages… we're already in a large debt as it is! Don't these kids know anything about damage control!?" I mumbled to myself. My children, I understand that they can't help being energetic and powerful youngsters but I wish they would stop causing so much damage or at the very least think before they destroy properties. I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of a knock.

"Come in." I said, happy to be distracted from another pile of stressful documents from the fiery pits of Hell. Lucy entered the room and I noticed a hint of sadness behind the smile she showed me.

"What is the matter, my child?" I asked, wanting to make the smile of one of the few of my children who thinks things through first to be of joy and not that heart-achingly forlorn one.

"I have a request, Master." I nodded, signaling for her to continue. "I would like to leave the guild for a while."

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_"I would like to leave the guild for a while."_

Makarov was stunned into silence as her words repeated I his head, shocked at what the young Celestial Mage had requested. Makarov stuttered. "W-why, my child?" it was the only thing he could say to her, worried for the reason she would say such a thing and sad for her decision to leave.

"I just… Uhh….have some important matters I have to attend to." was the only thing Lucy could reply. She couldn't tell the Master what they-. No, she could but she didn't because she knew that the Master would surely be angry at them. She decided to lie instead. After all, even if they did all that to her, she still thought of them as her nakama.

"Surely there is a way to settle this without having to-"the old man pleaded but Lucy interrupted him before he could finish.

"No, Master. I need to face this head on. The only way I will be able to is if I can do this on my own."

Seeing the determination in her eyes, he told her "Very well then, I shall accept your request." And with that, the mark of Fairy Tail on the back of her hand turned into glitter as it slowly disappeared.

"Will you come back?" he said, still reluctant to let her leave.

"Don't worry, Master. I'll be back. I'll always come back. I promise. This is my home after all." She declared, another sad smile that hinted the current Master of Fairy Tail that she might not return again. Ever.

And so, Lucy left the guild. Not once looking back. And as soon as Lucy was out of the room, the old man shed his tears.

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**Lucy's P.o.V.**

That night, after I left the guild, I immediately told the landlady about my departure and then started packing my belongings in a small cube Virgo gave me. It was a magic cube imbued with Re-quip magic. It could hold an unlimited amount of luggage. Very convenient. I wonder… why haven't I ever used it before? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I already informed my spirits this morning.

As I finished packing the last of my belongings, I was suddenly surrounded by darkness. I tried calling out but there was no response. I couldn't see a thing as I was blanketed in pitch black. All that was there was the echo of my own calls. Then I heard a voice.

"My Queen, it is time for you to claim your throne."

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Thanks to everyone who read my first fanfic. Sorry I haven't done chapter 3 yet. I hoped you liked the redux of chapter one. Please review. Constructive criticism is very much welcomed.


	2. SORRY!

To everyone who's been following and waiting for the next chapter of "Behind Her Smile", GOMEN! After months of deliberation, I've FINALLY decided that I'm gonna do the whole thing over from the 1st chapter. It won't be changing too much but I'll be adding a few more details to it.

And so, to everyone, I'm sorry to make you wait so long. I'm going to try to finish this by a week or two. Again, I'm so sorry for the trouble but this is something I've decided I absolutely HAVE to do.


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